I started at 4 on 1 off as did most of the
@StinkBud peeps. A more advanced version of SB's setup was nicely showcased and used by
@superstoner1 in his threads. I believe that he is the original dude that tested the 8 min of 80 sec on with excellent results. I ran a side by side of the two times settings and with the 80n sec on 8 min off I have 20% higher yields, my res temps were an average of 5 degrees cooler, and yes it used slightly less power. I def recommend switching to 8 min off 80 sec on. I believe it provides much better oxygen to the roots and that's how you get the better yields.
I've always wondered how dry the roots should get between cycles, mine are usually always wet, or at least damp. I kinda remember reading about wanting them to almost dry between cycles. I think it promotes a finer root mass, but I dont remember exactly?
I might try it out, like I said everything looks good right now, so I really don't want to change what's working. Also, my timers a bitch to set, I don't like messing with it. It took me way too long to get it within 10 secs of 1on/4off , it's something like 1:08 on/3:56 off. I still think it should have been closer, but I almost smashed it after an hour plus of messing with it. Way too fine of adjustment on its dial movement.
Do you have access to fresh cold water and a drain? As long as you're not on metered water you can run my DIY chiller with instructions on page one or 2 of this thread. Its cheap and easy to build and beats the hell out of the off the shelf chillers.
If you do not have access to cold water and a drain? If so, then you could still run my chiller with a res set inside of a fridge (cheap as fuck on CL) with a submersible pump in the res and a return line back to the fridge res and get the same effect without all the wasted water. Same concept as my chiller just without the fresh water and drains. I really think this would be a better option that the water cooler. You could take it to the next level and use glycol inside the rtes in a freezer and be even more efficient! I will eventually go that route.
I'm on a meter, but like I said it, works out to $0.0004/gal at my rates. Still wouldn't want to pay for it. I've always had a crazy idea of burying a 55+ gallon drum under the slab in the basement as an earth chiller setup, some coils and pumps, it'd be sweet. Ground temp at 15-20ft down is like 55-60F all year. I have a sump hole already cut, I just need to dig. Shit, I might hit even hit water, we have a high water table here, can't get a bigger cooling res than that. .lol.
I have a large standup freezer I only keep a little food in. Since it's just me now, I only use 1 shelf in it really. I've thought about just using the empty space for cooling. It'd be dual purpose, and I'm already paying for it.
I'm weighing my options, probably just going to back burner it for a cycle, enjoy the summer without that stress.
